4/7/2017

Cumberland University’s Educator Preparation Program (EPP) will be highlighted as a model for success at the Tennessee Department of Education’s Set Up for Success: Strengthening Our New Teacher Pipeline event on April 5 at the Music City Center. Tennessee Education Commissioner Candice McQueen and leadership from the department of education are highlighting the work of Tennessee educator preparation providers and their district partners to prepare teacher candidates for the classroom.
Eric Cummings, dean of CU’s School of Humanities, Education, and the Arts, will be part of a panel discussion on K-12/EPP partnerships, sharing and using data, and the “new teacher pipeline.” The event will feature a panel of voices from the education community, including district leadership, K-12 educators, higher education leadership, the department, and the state board of education. This panel of speakers will share key initiatives and opportunities related to the important work of preparing Tennessee’s educators for success in the classroom and success for K-12 students.

Cumberland’s EPP annual report will be shared along with the Set Up for Success report from the department’s office of data and research. These reports will provide Tennessee educator preparation providers with an unprecedented amount of data that will support continuous improvement and serve as a source of evidence for the ongoing approval to recommend candidates for licensure.
In December 2016, Cumberland University’s educator preparation program (EPP) overall received the highest marks on the Tennessee Board of Education’s new Teacher Preparation Report Card. The Report Card reveals how effectively the state’s colleges, universities, and other providers are training teachers for success in the classroom.

Cumberland’s overall performance ranking is the highest (category 4), which is shared with seven other educator preparation programs. Of those seven, only three are university-based. Cumberland University’s program ranked ahead of Middle Tennessee State University, Vanderbilt, Tennessee Tech and the University of Tennessee. “Cumberland University’s graduates make the case every day in the workforce that we are one of the South’s best universities. These new rankings show that Cumberland University is not just part of Tennessee’s secondary education success but that we are helping to lead the movement,” said Cumberland University President Paul Stumb.